Licorice Pizza: Movie Review

Licorice Pizza is the name of a defunct line of record stores from California… in relevant news, it’s also the name of the new Paul Thomas Anderson comedy-drama. The film starts with a 15-year-old boy named Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), living in 1970s San Fernando Valley, California. Gary takes interest in a young woman called Alana Kane (Alana Haim), and while she blows off his advances, she does begin a friendship with him that turns into a business partnership.

That’s about the basic setup of the movie, but really the plot isn’t so much about one storyline, with a conventional beginning, middle, end structure. But a more loose movie about the different adventures falling on to the two leads. If you can’t stand slower-paced movies with a free-flowing “things happen” plot, like 2018’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, then this movie probably isn’t for you. But if you are not convinced that this two-hour movie is worth your time, then at least watch the trailer, it is what sold me on a movie I would have no interest in if it weren’t for the masterfully made trailer.

The movie really shines with the chemistry between the two leads. All the dialogue and acting in the whole movie feels natural and that goes double for Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. Gary is an outgoing, somewhat naive entrepreneur goofball more interested in selling waterbeds and pinball machines, while Alana is a wiser young adult that becomes more interested in making the world a better place. All of the characters in the film feel very believable with the way they are portrayed, even if they show up for just one scene it still feels like someone you would know possibly know in real life. As one of the Youtube comments for the trailer pointed out, “the two main characters look like people and not chiseled gods”. Licorice Pizza in general is one of the most real movies I have ever seen.

The best way to enjoy Licorice Pizza is to fall into its acting and dialogue, to let the cinematography and camera work hijack your eyes, and to go with the flow in Licorice Pizza.